Saturday Night Smack Down!

Saturday Night Smack Down!

Kelly and I headed out to our spot to get in some turkey hunting. We pulled into the parking lot and, unfortunately, it was full!

We were hunting state land so first some first serve. So, we made a change in location to another area in the hope that I would have some turkey action. We went to a spot that has some personnel memories for me. Last year I got my first turkey called in by Mr. Mike Adams himself and he also showed me a few other tricks as a first time turkey hunter.

This year I was taking it on my own to get the job done. Kelly wanted to come along but had no permit so she was just along for the hunt. We walked out and I was wearing my new Mossy Oak camo and we got settled in by 6 pm against a couple trees on the edge of the field. It was a bit warm and a little buggy but not that bad and the sun was going down.

After about a half hour I whispered to her as she was sitting about 10 feet away if she wanted to do the calling. She nodded to me and I threw her my Straight Creek calls; a box and slate call.

She started out using both calls and getting better with each try. She had some practice in the house but this was the real deal out. She was doing great and after 45 min we heard a faint reply from a hen. We looked at each other and nodded, verifying to each other what we heard. Then with a few more hits on the slate call, the hen popped into the field and we both could see it making its way towards our decoys. Half way across the field the hen started making her way up the hill and towards the woods. I motioned to Kelly to hit the call softly two times. As she did, the hen picked up her head, looked and turned down the middle of the field to the decoys. She was coming towards us when the two toms appeared on the other side. Kelly saw them before I did and we again looked at each other. I whispered "you see the toms?" she nodded and they started making their way across the field straight at us. They were coming at us line right behind each other. I got myself into a shooting position and moved the safety off. At about 30 yards and between my decoys, they finally stated to get some separation between them.

That was all I needed. At about 25 yards, I placed the bead of the barrel onto his head and put the smack down on him. With a loud "BANG", he was down and I was hopping out onto the field after him to make sure he was down. The excitement of knowing Kelly called in her first bird took over and I started shaking. I was so happy we hugged in the field with me saying "You did it, you did it! You called in your first Tom!"

I picked up the cell phone and call my wife, Deb. Still shaking, I tried to tell her what Kelly had done. I had to give the phone to Kelly to finish talking to Deb. She even asked Kelly if I was ok. Oh! I was ok that's for sure. I was so excited of what she did. It was an incredible feeling.

We gathered our stuff and picked up the bird and headed for the truck. Back to home for some pictures!

She helped me on the back porch taking care of the bird, too. For me, it was another great father experience! Another one to add to the memory banks for life!

Final Status of the Hunt:

Shooter: Dan "Red" DeFauw

Caller: Kelly "The Call Master" DeFauw

Weight: 16 lbs

Beard: 9 ¼ long

Spurs: 7/8 in.

Gun: Mossberg 500 pump

Ammo: Winchester 2 ¾ number 6